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Bipolar Junction Transistors
About A Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) is a type of transistor. It is a three-terminal electronic device constructed of doped semiconductor material and may be used in amplifying or switching applications. Bipolar transistors are so named because their operation involves both electrons and holes. That is, charge flow is due to bidirectional diffusion of charge carriers across a junction between two regions of different charge concentrations. This mode of operation is in contrast with unipolar transistors, such as field-effect transistors, in which only one carrier type is involved in charge flow due to drift. By design, most of the BJT collector current is due the flow of charges injected from a high-concentration emitter into the base where they are minority carriers that diffuse toward the collector, and so BJTs are classified as minority-carrier devices. Structure Simplified cross section of a planar NPN bipolar junction transistor Die of a KSY34 high-frequency NPN transistor, base and emitter connected via bonded wires A BJT consists of three differently doped semiconductor regions, the emitter region, the base region and the collector region. These regions are, respectively, p type, n type and p type in a PNP, and n type, p type and n type in a NPN transistor. Each semiconductor region is connected to a terminal, appropriately labeled: emitter (E), base (B) and collector ©. The base is physically located between the emitter and the collector and is made from lightly doped, high resistivity material. The collector surrounds the emitter region, making it almost impossible for the electrons injected into the base region to escape being collected, thus making the resulting value of α very close to unity, and so, giving the transistor a large β. A cross section view of a BJT indicates that the collector–base junction has a much larger area than the emitter–base junction. The bipolar junction transistor, unlike other transistors, is usually not a symmetrical device. This means that interchanging the collector and the emitter makes the transistor leave the forward active mode and start to operate in reverse mode. Because the transistor's internal structure is usually optimized to forward-mode operation, interchanging the collector and the emitter makes the values of α and β in reverse operation much smaller than those found in forward operation; often the α of the reverse mode is lower than 0.5. The lack of symmetry is primarily due to the doping ratios of the emitter and the collector. The emitter is heavily doped, while the collector is lightly doped, allowing a large reverse bias voltage to be applied before the collector–base junction breaks down. The collector–base junction is reverse biased in normal operation. The reason the emitter is heavily doped is to increase the emitter injection efficiency: the ratio of carriers injected by the emitter to those injected by the base. For high current gain, most of the carriers injected into the emitter–base junction must come from the emitter. The low-performance "lateral" bipolar transistors sometimes used in CMOS processes are sometimes designed symmetrically, that is, with no difference between forward and backward operation. Small changes in the voltage applied across the base–emitter terminals causes the current that flows between the emitter and the collector to change significantly. This effect can be used to amplify the input voltage or current. BJTs can be thought of as voltage-controlled current sources, but are more simply characterized as current-controlled current sources, or current amplifiers, due to the low impedance at the base. Regions of operation Bipolar transistors have five distinct regions of operation, defined mostly by applied bias: * Forward-bias (or simply, active): The emitter–base junction is forward biased and the base–collector junction is reverse biased. Most bipolar transistors are designed to afford the greatest common-emitter current gain, βF, in forward-active mode. If this is the case, the collector–emitter current is approximately proportional to the base current, but many times larger, for small base current variations. * Reverse-bias (or inverse-active or inverted): By reversing the biasing conditions of the forward-active region, a bipolar transistor goes into reverse-active mode. In this mode, the emitter and collector regions switch roles. Because most BJTs are designed to maximize current gain in forward-active mode, the βF in inverted mode is several (2–3 for the ordinary germanium transistor) times smaller. This transistor mode is seldom used, usually being considered only for failsafe conditions and some types of bipolar logic. The reverse bias breakdown voltage to the base may be an order of magnitude lower in this region. * Saturation: With both junctions forward-biased, a BJT is in saturation mode and facilitates high current conduction from the emitter to the collector. This mode corresponds to a logical "on", or a closed switch. * Cutoff: In cutoff, biasing conditions opposite of saturation (both junctions reverse biased) are present. There is very little current flow, which corresponds to a logical "off", or an open switch. * Avalanche breakdown region Early transistors were made from germanium but most modern BJTs are made from silicon. A significant minority are also now made from gallium arsenide, especially for very high speed applications (see HBT, below). NPN The symbol of an NPN Bipolar Junction Transistor. NPN is one of the two types of bipolar transistors, in which the letters "N" and "P" refer to the majority charge carriers inside the different regions of the transistor. Most bipolar transistors used today are NPN, because electron mobility is higher than hole mobility in semiconductors, allowing greater currents and faster operation. NPN transistors consist of a layer of P-doped semiconductor (the "base") between two N-doped layers. A small current entering the base in common-emitter mode is amplified in the collector output. In other terms, an NPN transistor is "on" when its base is pulled high relative to the emitter. The arrow in the NPN transistor symbol is on the emitter leg and points in the direction of the conventional current flow when the device is in forward active mode. One mnemonic device for identifying the symbol for the NPN transistor is "not pointing in." PNP The other type of BJT is the PNP with the letters "P" and "N" referring to the majority charge carriers inside the different regions of the transistor. The symbol of a PNP Bipolar Junction Transistor. PNP transistors consist of a layer of N-doped semiconductor between two layers of P-doped material. A small current leaving the base in common-emitter mode is amplified in the collector output. In other terms, a PNP transistor is "on" when its base is pulled low relative to the emitter. The arrow in the PNP transistor symbol is on the emitter leg and points in the direction of the conventional current flow when the device is in forward active mode. One mnemonic device for identifying the symbol for the PNP transistor is "pointing in proudly. References Links Category:Electronics Category:CBET Study Info Category:Components